Talk:Christianity and Buddhism/Old version
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Buddhist-Christian Parallels have been noted across the ages by scholars but are now being more widely appreciated as individuals search accessible Buddhist scriptures in ancient and modern languages. The field takes three forms:
- parallel teachings of Buddhism and Christianity in words that appear similar and in some cases appear to share a common origin
- parallel sayings of the Buddha and Jesus
- general parallels between the spiritual intent and practices of Buddhism and Christianity
The three categories overlap and are seldom presented separately, although one approach has used the theologically derived Q document of the, possibly, original words of Jesus as a basis of comparison with the supposed earliest words of the Buddha. The process is useful insofar as it highlights direct parallels in words, albeit in modern languages as neither the original words of Jesus or the Buddha were written down at the time nor were the first scriptures in the languages they probably spoke. Other studies of parallels include learned analyses, most of them recent although some date back to the time of the early Church, which seems to have suppressed historical linkages between the ancient Middle-East/Greece and India.